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Yet in the first months of the crisis, poverty fell to historic lows and total income, made up of wages and government support, for the poorest households rose at an unprecedented rate. How could this be?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe answer, according to a recent\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Han-et-al-conference-draft.pdf\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E, is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Passed by Congress in March, the Act was one of the largest expansions of the social safety net since the New Deal of the 1930s.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThis expansion, however, was short lived. Key benefits, such as an additional US$600 in weekly unemployment benefits,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/sarahhansen\/2020\/07\/24\/eviction-bans-600-unemployment-payments-and-student-loan-forbearance-heres-when-the-key-benefits-of-the-cares-act-expire\/#233a573a4ccd\u0022\u003Eexpired\u003C\/a\u003E at the end of July, forcing\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/10\/15\/us\/politics\/federal-aid-poverty-levels.html\u0022\u003Eeight million people\u003C\/a\u003E into poverty. After months of negotiations, Congress\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/pelosi-says-no-covid-19-relief-election-day-blames-white-n1245016\u0022\u003Ehas yet to agree\u003C\/a\u003E on new relief measures.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EPolitical hostility to government programs that help people who are struggling economically has been growing for decades. Benefits have become\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cbpp.org\/sites\/default\/files\/atoms\/files\/10-30-14tanf.pdf\u0022\u003Eless generous\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/s27147.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/Closing-Doors-on-the-Unemployed12_19_17-1.pdf\u0022\u003Eless accessible\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.publichealthpost.org\/viewpoints\/history-of-work-requirements\/\u0022\u003Emore punitive.\u003C\/a\u003E Though\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.epi.org\/blog\/despite-some-good-provisions-the-cares-act-has-glaring-flaws-and-falls-short-of-fully-protecting-workers-during-the-coronavirus-crisis\/\u0022\u003Eflawed\u003C\/a\u003E on many\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2020\/5\/5\/21244630\/undocumented-immigrants-coronavirus-relief-cares-act\u0022\u003Efronts\u003C\/a\u003E, the CARES Act was a sharp break from this orthodoxy. Direct cash payments and unemployment expansion\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Han-et-al-conference-draft.pdf\u0022\u003Eincreased total income\u003C\/a\u003E for families in the lowest quartile by 11 percent compared to pre-crisis levels, providing a temporary reprieve from\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2020\/01\/09\/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/www.pewsocialtrends.org\/2020\/01\/09\/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality\/\u0022\u003Edecades of stagnant income growth\u003C\/a\u003E. That poverty has skyrocketed since these benefits expired should come as no surprise.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/10\/29\/past-covid-19-relief-shows-fighting-poverty-possible\u0022\u003ERead more \u0026gt; \u0026gt; \u0026gt;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null},{"command":"insert","method":"prepend","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__376923__en","data":"","settings":null}]